Technology
Discover facts about technology. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Technology
The first photo on the web was a comedy band's JPEG
You’d think the inaugural image of the World Wide Web would be something profound, like a scientific diagram or a historic monument. Instead, in 1992, Tim…
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Sharp Corporation released the J-SH04 in Japan during 2000, creating the first commercially successful camera phone
The device that would eventually ruin every concert experience forever was an unassuming silver candy-bar phone. It featured a staggering 0.11-megapixel…
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Why the original Game Boy had a green screen
Nintendo didn't choose that hideous split-pea soup color scheme for aesthetic brilliance. The stark greenish-yellow background provided the absolute highest…
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Why Margaret Hamilton called it software engineering
During the Apollo space missions, writing code was largely seen as "women's work" and was treated like typing or clerical labor by the male hardware…
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Some ergonomic keyboards are entirely split into two pieces
Because destroying your wrists over a flat piece of plastic isn't optimal, engineers decided to just saw the keyboard in half. Advanced ergonomic setups…
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Pirated Crysis copies replace bullets with chickens
Download an illegal version of this demanding shooter, and your high-powered assault rifle will aggressively fire clucking farm animals instead of bullets,…
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Why boss fights never let you feel comfortable
It is surprisingly hard to win a battle when the music is actively giving you asthma. Composers often use asymmetrical time signatures during major…
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Why Bluetooth keeps your earbuds on a short leash
People complain endlessly about their wireless earbuds cutting out when they walk exactly one room away. This pathetic range is fully intentional, meant to…
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Polyurethane bubbles compress and slowly regain original form
Nothing screams 'modern comfort' quite like resting on highly engineered chemical foam. Viscoelastic polyurethane is packed with open-cell gas bubbles that…
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Why random data can grow when compressed
Compression algorithms look for repeating patterns to save space, meaning they are utterly useless against chaos. If you try compressing completely random…
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Your left hand does most of the typing
Right-handed people love to think they are dominant, but not on a QWERTY keyboard. Because the layout was designed to separate common letters, vowels like A…
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Closed cycle gas expansion drives pistons via external heat
Most engines rely on internal explosions, but the Stirling engine thrives on simple temperature differences. A sealed cylinder contains a fixed amount of gas.…
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Demodulation rips usable data out of carrier waves
Receiving a signal is completely pointless if you can't strip it down. Demodulation acts as the essential deciphering process. When an antenna catches a…
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How a tiny XML file can unleash a billion laughs
Also known as an XML entity expansion attack, this vulnerability is beautifully malicious. A hacker writes a tiny text file where 'lol' is defined as ten…
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Why quartz watches vibrate 32,768 times a second
Instead of winding tiny gears, modern cheap timepieces run electricity through a microscopic piece of quartz carved into the shape of a tuning fork. It…
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Pepe the Frog began as a laid-back comic character
Before this highly expressive amphibian was hijacked by countless chaotic internet factions, he was just a chill character in a comic called Boy's Club. He…
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How a smart-contract flaw can drain millions in seconds
The beauty of a perfectly automated financial system is how flawlessly it can bankrupt you in milliseconds. Smart contracts run exactly as written without any…
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How astronauts add water to dinner
Gourmet dining in orbit essentially resembles intense medical procedures. To prevent violently floating water droplets from short-circuiting critical…
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The Linux operating system with a Hannah Montana theme
Open source freedom means people can create utter atrocities. This is a real, fully functional operating system themed entirely around a mid-2000s teen…
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Nintendo DS Lite offered four locked brightness levels
Instead of providing a smooth, continuous slider like literally any standard mobile device, the handheld forced you to cycle through exactly four rigid…
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The weeds on your socks inspired Velcro
Nature makes the absolute best annoyances. This famous fastener relies on microscopic hooks catching onto loops, mimicking those irritating weeds that stick…
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First commercial color televisions debuted in 1953
Because watching grayscale variety shows apparently wasn't depressing enough. The RCA CT-100 allowed consumers to see exactly how tacky fifties outfits…
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Nutcrackers were once more than decorations
Holiday decorations occasionally serve a brutally practical purpose. The wooden soldiers currently gathering dust on your shelf were originally designed with…
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Keyboard caps become greasy and shiny
Your prized mechanical board will inevitably look like you type with fingers dipped in butter. The natural oils on your hands act as a micro-abrasive, slowly…
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